(click images for larger view)
People seemed to enjoy the photochromes (or "photochroms") I featured this weekend, so I'm posting some more. They come from the LOC photochrom archive. Also see their daguerreotype archive.
Photochromes were popular between about 1890 and 1910. The actual creators were not identified (as far as I can tell). They were mostly sold as postcards.
Photochrome process: "A litho stone was coated with a thin layer of purified bitumen dissolved in benzene. A reversed half-tone negative was then pressed against this light-sensitive coating and an exposure in daylight made (taking from 10-30 minutes in summer, to several hours in winter). The bitumen hardened and became resistant to normal solvents in proportion to the light. The coating was then washed in turpentine solutions, removing the unhardened bitumen. It was then retouched in the tonal scale of the chosen color to strengthen or soften the tones as required. Each tint needed a separate stone bearing the appropriate retouched image, and prints were usually produced by at least six, and more commonly from 10 to 15 tint stones."
Alternate description of the process: Max Ernst photoshops livestock into the xeroxed ruins of Caspar David Friedrich paintings.
Photochromes were popular between about 1890 and 1910. The actual creators were not identified (as far as I can tell). They were mostly sold as postcards.
Photochrome process: "A litho stone was coated with a thin layer of purified bitumen dissolved in benzene. A reversed half-tone negative was then pressed against this light-sensitive coating and an exposure in daylight made (taking from 10-30 minutes in summer, to several hours in winter). The bitumen hardened and became resistant to normal solvents in proportion to the light. The coating was then washed in turpentine solutions, removing the unhardened bitumen. It was then retouched in the tonal scale of the chosen color to strengthen or soften the tones as required. Each tint needed a separate stone bearing the appropriate retouched image, and prints were usually produced by at least six, and more commonly from 10 to 15 tint stones."
Alternate description of the process: Max Ernst photoshops livestock into the xeroxed ruins of Caspar David Friedrich paintings.
Previously on A Journey Round My Skull:
--In the grotto (photochroms)
--Adelaide Hanscom by Cary Loren (pictorialism, photography)
--Monsters & Madonnas by Cary Loren (pictorialism, photography; one of this site's most visited posts)
--In the grotto (photochroms)
--Adelaide Hanscom by Cary Loren (pictorialism, photography)
--Monsters & Madonnas by Cary Loren (pictorialism, photography; one of this site's most visited posts)
8 comments:
Thanks for posting this Will - I work at LOC but I'm always being hepped to parts of the collection i didn't even know existed.
Thanks Pat.
I almost went blind looking through all 5000 of them...twice! They're incredibly strange and beautiful.
These are beautiful images. Thanks for posting.
I love the colors and all. I hadn't realized this was a specific photographic/printing process.
these are remarkable images even if they do make me a little dizzy
You've titled this post as 'photochromosomes'. Intentional? :-)
You've got a great collection of books. The illustrations are also brilliant.
Very intentional! I'm going through your archives and links now -- you are opening up new worlds to me.
Thanks!
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